RACING FOR CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Race of Champions weekend is in the history books, and it is time for the competitors of Shangri-La II Motorspeedway to return to the high banked concrete half mile and get to work deciding who will be the 2011 champions. In the previous two seasons, there has not been a repeat champion. Will this year break that streak and realize a two time champion in at least one of the divisions? Lee Sharpsteen has had the hot set-up in the Street Stock division, going undefeated this season collecting six wins in six events. He has already become a two time champion this year by winning the Race of Champions Super Stock feature for the second year in a row last weekend at Oswego. Sharpsteen is the defending series champion at Shangri-La II, and currently leads the points by 79 over his older brother Charlie. Positions 2-6 are separated by only 21 points. Gil Sharpsteen is in third place currently, 6 points behind second place. Billy Coyle is fourth in points, just 3 out of third. Cricket Clonch is 11 points behind Coyle in fifth place while Charlie Lohmeyer is in sixth place, just 1 point out of fifth.

Jimmy Zacharias is out to become the first repeat winner in open wheeled competition as he is defending his 2010 Sportsman title. The third generation driver leads the All Time Wins list for Sportsman at the Concrete Castle with 11 wins, and counting. Jimmy “Z” has won 4 of the 5 races he has competed in out of the six events this year. His only finish that wasn’t a win was finishing 2nd to his brother T-J in the first event of 2011. John Wilber is the current points leader over Jimmy Zacharias by just 7 points. 2010 Rookie of the Year, Bryan Sherwood has rebounded from a tough second week to sit third in the points, only three points out of second. T-J Zacharias is fourth in points, just three out of third. Paul Johnson completes the top five in points, 40 points out of fourth.

Final Tune-Up for RoC Modifieds Coming Saturday July 9th!

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The final tune-up for the Race of Champions Modified Tour before the Sunoco 200 at the 61st Race of Champions at the Oswego Speedway is this Saturday night, July 9th as the RoC-N-Concrete Rumble Returns to Shangri-La II Motorspeedway in Tioga Center, New York.

"This should be our fourth RoC Modified event at Shangri-La II" said track manager, Amy Stilson. "We ran our first RoC race in May of 2010, but Mother Nature has played a role in canceling the races last fall and this spring. We want to see the Modifieds run 100 laps under the lights just as much as the fans want to see them". In that one and only RoC event run last May 16th, Chuck Hossfeld took home the win over Wilbur Hebing, Daren Scherer, Pete Brittan and Erik Rudolph. Hossfeld has had the "Hot Shoe" this year on the RoC Modified Tour collecting three wins in the four events run- winning at Oswego, Airborne and Spencer Speedways. Matt Hirschman was the winner at Dunn Tire Raceway Park. Hossfeld will have his hands full at Shangri-La II with 2010 Shangri-La II Modified champion, Jimmy Zacharias in the field. Zacharias currently holds the top spot for Modified wins at "The Concrete Castle" with six wins. Earl Paules, John Markovic and Rick Zacharias are all tied with three wins each at the facility. The speedway has held two 100 lap modified features in its brief history, both run in 2009. They were day time races with Earl Paules winning on July 19th and Jimmy Zacharias winning on September 6th. With the race being run at night, the speed records are sure to fall as well. J.R. Kent currently holds the fastest lap at the high banked concrete half mile with a lap run on September 11, 2010 at 17.320 seconds, 103.926 mph. The 50/50 will start off with the $ 1,003.00 from the unclaimed first race 50/50 being added to the pot.

The show will be a huge event with the ASA Latemodels, Sportsman, Street Stocks and Speed STR's all-seeing action. The ASA Latemodels running a 30 lap feature, the Sportsman and Street Stocks running 25 laps and the Speed STR's scheduled to run 20 laps.

Pit Gates open at 3:30pm, Grandstand Gates open and practice begins at 5:30 pm and racing gets the green flag at 7:00 pm.

Zacharias and Sharpsteen Set to Defend Home Turf

Thursday June 16th,Hoosier Tire East will present "Hoosier Daddy night" featuring RoC Qualifiers for the Sportsman Modifieds and Street Stocks. On the line are guaranteed starting spots for the respective events at the 61st annual Sunoco Race of Champions weekend at the Oswego Speedway on July 22nd – 24th. The Sportsman Modifieds and Street Stocks run their RoC events on Sunday July 24th.

Jimmy Zacharias is the defending Shangri-La II Motorspeedway champion in the Sportsman Modifieds, and knows his way to victory lane very well. Zacharias leads the All Time Wins list in the Sportsman division with 7 wins in the first two seasons in Shangri-La II history. His closest challenger is Tony Hanbury with 4 wins. Second year driver, Bryan Sherwood is also no stranger to victory lane as he collected 3 wins in his rookie season. You also can not count out T-J Zacharias who picked up his first ever win this past Sunday. Jimmy Zacharias also holds the Fastest Lap record in Sportsman Modified competition with a lap last September 4th of 18.076 seconds, 99.580 mph.

When you think Street Stocks at Shangri-La II, the name Lee Sharpsteen is immediately thought of. Sharpsteen collected the track championship last season, and took a huge first step toward defending the title by edging out his brother Gil on Sunday afternoon for the win. Like Zacharias, Sharpsteen also holds the All Time Wins lead for Street Stocks at the track with 8 wins. Lee Sharpsteen has a fast car, no doubt, but Cricket Clonch is always near the front and holds the track record speed in a Street Stock with a lap timed at 20.746 seconds, 86.764 seconds on August14, 2010.

The Street Stocks will run a 100 lap feature, while the Sportsman Modifieds will compete for 50 laps. There will also be a set of Hoosier Race Tires given away in both divisions courtesy of Frenches Auto Parts – the official tire supplier to Shangri-La II Motorspeedway.

Make sure to bring your wristbands from Sunday to receive $2.00 off the admission price. For Thursday night, June 16th, the Pit Gate will open at 4:30 pm, Grand Stand Gate opens and practice begins at 5:30 pm. Racing gets underway at 7:00 pm.

Just a reminder that there is no racing scheduled for Saturday night June 18th due to the running of an IHRA National event at Skyview Drags. The next event on the schedule is Crazy George's Concrete Craziness featuring "Cone races" for all divisions on Saturday night June 25th.